A Chorleywood based dog trainer is glad to announce he has been named finalist for a national award by the Animal Star Awards.
Jamie Pound, became a dog trainer after an accident at work 11 years ago, where he was set on fire by an electrical explosion which left him with 45 per cent burns.
He is excited and very proud to be finalist in two categories, Dog Trainer/ Behaviourist of the Year and Animals Hero.
Speaking to ChorleywoodNews, Jamie, who now runs two dog schools with wife Gemma – one in Chorleywood and one in Berkhamsted – said working with puppies increased his mental health.
He mentioned: “I now feel I owe it to dogs to help them and their owners through various different behaviour issues.
“When I was recovering I got myself a puppy, a german shepherd named Frankie, which was difficult to manage, he needed extra training so I trained to become a better owner. On one of the courses I met my fine Gemma and in 2013 we opened Jamie Pound Dog Training.
“Working on the building site was quite a social job, we used to chat with different people, I had hobbies like football, but after my accident, in between 2010-2012 I didn’t get out much, I didn’t like talking to people and all I would do was go to the hospital and have operations.
“Getting a dog forced me to go out, exercise, bump into people and chat about the dog, which transpired in training with the dog, going to group classes, meeting other dog owners.
“It was a happy place for me, it helped me not to think about the difficult things like physio and travelling, that time of my life was very difficult and quite lonely and the dog was my companion and my responsibility.”
The awards ceremony will be held virtually on March 28.
Jamie said he is very glad to have been nominated finalist but winning would be the cherry on the top.
He added: “Frankie, my german shepherd died last year, what we’ve done together in the past years, it’s been because of Frankie. It’d be a good testimony to him that what we’ve done has been recognised.”
Jamie is also the founder of UK Sniffer Dogs Ltd, a company that teaches dog trainers and owners how to train pet dogs for scent detection and tracking.
For more info visit facebook.com/chorleywooddogtraining or facebook.com/BerkhamstedDogTraining
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